Joan Rivers is having quite the weekend. After footage surfaced of her calling the president gay and the first lady a “tranny,” she then went on CNN to talk to Fredricka Whitfield about her new book. Whitfield pushed her a little bit about her meanness, and then Rivers got tired of the interview, told Whitfield she shouldn’t be interviewing comedians and departed. There’s even a literal mic drop, as she starts to pull it off when she decides to go.
Whitfield, who in the moment seems to think it’s all in good fun, clarifies that it was not actually a prank at the end of the video. Rivers really did get mad that Whitfield asked her about her decision to wear a fur coat. It’s possible that it wasn’t specifically Whitfield who pushed Rivers over the edge — she’s been getting flak for years about whether she’s too mean, and Whitfield may simply have been the last straw.
One might be tempted to point out that it was a bit on the nose to say that famous people should be able to handle a little criticism before getting offended by “negative” interview questions and walking out, but we wouldn’t want to be accused of being the wrong journalist to comment on a comedian.
